Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Having two boys with type one diabetes, has had a huge impact on our lives. My day is full of blood sugar tests, pump changes and alarms.

Type one diabetes is an autoimmune disease. This simply means that the bodies own immune system attacks the body and kills of cells. In type one diabetes, the immune system attacks the pancreas and kills of the insulin producing islets.

At this stage there is no known cure for type one diabetes. A person with it has to inject insulin every day. They are dependent on insulin to live. Even though they don't have any cure, there are advances been made to finding better ways to treat and live with diabetes.

Blood glucose monitoring is possible. We check the boys blood sugar level around 8-10 times a day. We can give insulin as needed through the pump. We can check if the boys have ketones in their blood. When Tom was diagnosed and in intensive care, they sent someone from the lab to collect blood to see what level ketones were at. It took time for them to tell us what level the ketones were. Now I put a strip in the blood meter and know within 10 seconds if either of my boys have ketones.

There is also continuous blood glucose monitoring and an artificial pancreas. We don't have these yet but they have changed the whole lifestyle of people living with type one diabetes.

These advances are great but still we pray for a cure for both our boys and all the other children (and adults) that suffer from type one diabetes. One of my hopes is to say one day, my boys use to have type one diabetes but now they have been cured. I will not support any organisation or group though that puts funds into embryonic stem cell research. This is immoral and has not shown any promise at all. I really don't believe we can get a cure with ESC. Adult stem cells have shown much more promise anyway.

You can read a few posts I have written against embryonic stem cell research at the following links:

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Today is the feast of All Saints. Our parish church is All Saints so it is our feast day today. We had mass tonight followed by a shared BBQ. It was a great night with good food and good company. I am thankful to God for the fellowship we all had.

I am also thankful for all the saints and the example they are to us in living the gospel message.

I am also thankful for all my friends and family that encourage me in living for God and a life of faith.

Please pray for a cure for Type One Diabetes

Our sons Tom and Christopher and our daughter Amelia are type one diabetics. We pray everyday for a cure. We do not want one by illicit means though so don't support any organisation that contributes to Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Click on the photo of Tom and Christopher to read about why I am against using Embryonic Stem cells for a cure.

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Tom's and Christopher's insulin pump

New book: Faith Quilt.

All proceeds from sales of "FAITH QUILT" going to "Casa de Amor Children's Homes in Bolivia" and "Sarah's Covenant Homes in India" Two truly extraordinary organisations that take in the most needy children and give them a place of love and security to call home.

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Help find a cure for type one diabetes

clink on the picture of Denise Faustman to see what work she is doing to find a cure for type one diabetes